The Striped Hyena is a medium-sized carnivorous mammal known for its unique sandy-coloured coat adorned with distinctive black stripes. With its robust build, strong jaws, and sharp teeth, it possesses the ability to scavenge and consume a wide range of food, including carrion, fruits, insects, and small mammals. As primarily solitary and nocturnal creatures, Striped Hyenas rely on their acute sense of smell and hearing to navigate their environment. In India, the Striped Hyena inhabits a variety of habitats. This ranges from grasslands, scrub forests, deserts, and even human-dominated landscapes.
Evidently, striped Hyenas exhibit remarkable adaptability, utilising abandoned burrows or rocky crevices as dens. Moreover, they seek shelter during the day and emerge under the cover of darkness to forage for food.
Striped Hyena.
By Rushikesh Deshmukh DOP
The Striped Hyena, with its captivating appearance and crucial ecological role, is an enigmatic species that requires urgent conservation attention. This remarkable creature plays a vital role in maintaining the delicate balance of ecosystems. For example, they play a vital role in the natural recycling of organic matter. As opportunistic scavengers, they feed on carrion and carcasses. As a result, by consuming decaying organic matter, they prevent the spread of diseases.
Their feeding habits contribute to the efficient breakdown of organic material, returning nutrients to the soil and promoting nutrient cycling within the ecosystem. Furthermore, they also act as an indicator species for the overall health and integrity of ecosystems. Therefore, monitoring hyena populations can provide valuable insights into broader ecosystem health and guide conservation efforts. Due to all these services that they provide to the ecosystem, they can be regarded as a saviour.
However, these saviours face numerous threats that jeopardise its survival.
Threats faced by Striped Hyenas
- Habitat Loss and Fragmentation:
One of the primary threats to the Striped Hyena is habitat loss and fragmentation. This is due to expanding human activities. Rapid urbanisation, agricultural expansion, and infrastructure development lead to the destruction and degradation of natural habitats. As a result, the available range for Striped Hyenas shrinks, reducing their access to food, water, and suitable denning sites. Moreover, habitat fragmentation limits their ability to disperse and maintain genetic diversity.
- Human-Wildlife Conflicts:
Striped Hyenas often face conflict with humans, which have a significant impact on their survival. Negative perceptions and superstitions surrounding hyenas contribute to targeted violence, resulting in retaliatory killings. Communities may perceive hyenas as threats to livestock and human safety, leading to conflict situations. Retaliatory killings not only directly impact hyena populations but also perpetuate a cycle of fear and hostility towards these misunderstood creatures.
- Illegal Wildlife Trade:
Although not as prominent as other endangered species, striped hyenas are sometimes targeted for their body parts, which are believed to possess medicinal or magical properties in certain traditional practices. Illegal trade in hyena body parts, including bones, teeth, and skin, poses a threat to their populations. Robust measures are necessary to curb this illegal trade and raise awareness about the importance of protecting these animals in their natural habitats.
- Road Mortality and Accidental Trappings:
Striped Hyenas due to their slow speed are susceptible to road accidents, particularly in areas where roads intersect with their habitats. High-speed roads fragment their movement patterns and increase the risk of fatal collisions. Additionally, hyenas may inadvertently get trapped in snares set for other wildlife, resulting in injuries or death.
How is the Striped Hyena being conserved?
- Protected Areas and Wildlife Corridors: The establishment and effective management of protected areas play a vital role in conserving the Striped Hyena’s habitat. These areas provide safe havens for hyenas and other wildlife, ensuring the preservation of essential resources and promoting their ecological connectivity. Creating wildlife corridors that connect fragmented habitats enables hyenas to move between different populations, facilitating gene flow and enhancing their long-term survival prospects.
- Awareness and Education: Public awareness campaigns are crucial for dispelling misconceptions, myths and negative perceptions surrounding hyenas. Educating local communities, students, and the general public about the ecological importance of Striped Hyenas and their role in maintaining ecosystem balance fosters a sense of empathy and appreciation for these remarkable creatures. Efforts to promote responsible ecotourism, where visitors can learn about and observe hyenas in their natural habitats, can also contribute to awareness and conservation efforts.
- Community Engagement and Livelihood Alternatives: Engaging local communities living in close proximity to hyena habitats is essential for successful conservation. Collaborative initiatives that involve communities in decision-making processes, provide alternative livelihood options such as ecotourism, sustainable agriculture, or handicrafts rather than livestock rearing where Hyenas can be killed in revenge for livestock looting.
Conclusion
By fulfilling an important ecological role as a scavenger, Hyena helps in cleaning of the ecosystem and helps in reduction of disease transmission. It is thus very important that a species as such must be saved and protected. The most important part to save this species would be to educate the people living around them on how Hyenas are actually saviours and not bad omen for the society.
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Written by: Samarth Jain